Sunday 23 March 2014

Ingermane

Ingermane: adjective. Something that is not relevant. It doesn´t matter if the thing that it is irrelevant to has previously been named, as being ingermane is absolutely normal and in no way derogatory. For example, it is as valid to say that "this horse is ingermane to our discussion" as it is to say that "this horse is ingermane." It is then up to the disgression of the participant in the conversation to determine what exactly the horse is ingermane to, let alone why it is so. Contrary to popular belief, the word ingermane did not originate from the negation of the word germane. It was created completely independently by Helmuth von Moltke who, at being questioned about his alteration of the Schlieffen plan, retorted "let us focus on our own frontiers. The Netherlands are ingermane." Some historians argue that Moltke did not actually mean to say that the Netherlands were impertinent (as they were quite pertinent indeed), but that they were simply "not German" and neutral, which is why attacking them or somehow involving them in the plot wouldn´t have been strategically wise.

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